E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic network, primarily the internet. These business transactions occur either as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer or consumer-to-business.
The terms e-commerce and e-business are often used interchangeably. The term e-tail is also sometimes used in reference to the transactional processes that make up online retail shopping.
Technologies:
Online Store
An online store is a virtual shop over the Internet. To complete the e-commerce cycle Internet network is required. An online virtual store can be of two types usually. One is over World-Wide-Web and usually referred to as a web store and another is in the form of mobile apps which can be installed on mobile devices and then can be used to process e-commerce activities. The e-commerce activities completed using mobile devices are called m-commerce or mobile commerce. M-commerce is possible through a web store and also through a mobile app. A responsive e-commerce website is used on mobile devices to carry out commerce activities. M-commerce has many advantages and increases the chances of a sale manifold.
ERP for e-commerce
Um ERP for e-commerce is a software capable of managing all areas of your virtual store, such as invoice issuance, finance and inventory control, for example. This technology can bring several benefits to your digital business, because in addition to automating and optimizing tasks, it also generates reports that can help you in decision making. Therefore, it is certainly an indispensable technology for any e-commerce.
Shopping Cart
A shopping cart is a software system integrated into the online store which helps in completing an online order. Usually, it is seen on the product detail pages, from where the product can be added to the cart, and after reviewing the cart, customers checkout to process payment and complete the order. The shopping cart captures all the order details of the product together with the shipping charge as set by the merchant and tax fees if incurred any. Shopping cart after capturing all the details, send to payment processing interface. The payment processor after executing payment successfully, send the order details and payment confirmation to the merchant’s screen. The merchant receives an email for the order and also it is reflected in the back-end.
Chatbots
Chatbots are robots that interact with humans via online chat and are undoubtedly one of the top technologies for e-commerce today. Using this feature ensures 24/7 customer service through a fully automated communication with resources of artificial intelligence.
In addition to streamlining operations, they can act in the customer retention, when the sales team is not available, or even answering simpler questions. Thus, employees can focus on handling cases that require special attention. This optimizes the work of the team and the company as a whole.
Payment Processing
Payment processing is a crucial part of an e-commerce business. Nowadays, payments are getting processed both online and offline. To make online payments secured, online stores use payment gateways. Payment gateways are the intermediaries between the merchant’s store and the payment issuing authority (usually a bank). After receiving the details of the order with order amount, the payment gateway sends users to their bank’s server, after payment from the bank users is thrown back to the merchant’s site with order confirmation details. Payment gateways are secured and free from any DDoS attack. Offline payment facilities are available mostly in developing countries where people still have to digitalize their activities. Merchants offer Cash-On Delivery for convenience.
Recommendation systems
Recommendation system is one of the most effective e-commerce technology resources in attraction, conversion e customer retention. It uses data analysis to compose a smart virtual showcase com product suggestions, facilitating the purchase journey and increasing conversion rates. These windows can be customized or not for each customer, depending on the objectives of each virtual store.
The recommendation systems with artificial intelligence are even more effective. With them, the windows work in a way autonomous and are even more personalized for each customer. Because the AI performs real-time analysis of both user behavior and window performance.
Shipping Management
There can be various ways to send the products ordered to the customers. In the e-commerce industry, there are various logistics companies across the world to care about this part of the process cycle. The Shipping companies collect the packaged products ordered from the merchant’s outlet. Shipping companies offer the status of the shipment and live GPS location of the product in an online map. Users can track their shipment using a tracking number or consignment number. The tracking link is provided by the shipment companies.
Smart Search
A smart search it is currently one of the main technologies for e-commerce, as it optimizes searches within the virtual store. This is extremely important as 60% of online sales come from the search field. Also, it’s no use having the product the customer is looking for if you can’t show the right results quickly.
Order Fulfillment
Most of the merchants of the world are a reseller of other product procuring companies. They receive the product details to use in their online store. After receiving the orders, small business e-commerce retailers send the order details to the product procuring company. The product procuring company sends the order to the customer directly through the shipping company. This saves inventory management costs to the retailer. Dropshipping is an example of it’s an improved version.
Pricing Tools
In competitive markets, quickly adjusting prices to align them with those practiced by the competition can also make all the difference in the rates of conversion. With pricing tools, you can compare prices in real time of its products and those of its competitors, as well as the stock availability and shipping conditions offered by them.
Personalization
Providing a personalized experience to the users of the store captures more conversions. Personalization is the process of showing the products or things that the user is already looking for. This is possible with modern-day technologies like AI and ML. The combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning reads the data behavior of users and presents users with personalized experiences.
New technologies are adding new milestones in e-commerce. Data processing through AI & ML, delivery using drones and the list goes on. Data processing has become vital for the success of an e-commerce venture. There are many online e-commerce platforms like Builderfly to automatized the whole e-commerce business.
Monitoring of social networks
Social media monitoring allows you to have a more effective control of your brand image in the market, allowing quick actions in crisis situations and increasing interaction with consumers and brand lovers. This facilitates retention and brings positive effects to the credibility of your business.